Competency #4--Tagging

Image source: Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com/work/224309/book/32181789)

2007 acq.(1) 811(1) adventure(1) Age Group 9-12(1) AgeGroup_Children(1) ALSC Notable All Ages 2006(1) Amazon Wishlist(1) American poets(1) An eclectic compilation of poems from everyone from ee cummings to Pablo Neruda. The poets are ethnically and culturally diverse as well as the subject matter. genre: poetry book(1) animals(1) anthology(2) art(1) autographed by author(1) beach(1) bedtime(1) Best Children's Book of the Year 2005(1) bockinghams(1) bockinghamsWANT(1) Celebrity(1) child(1) children(5) children's(3) children's literature(5) Children's Poetry(2) duplicate copy(1) EDFL 533/Pers(1) English poets(1) fiction(1) Fiction/Poetry(1) first edition(2) front room(1) grace(1) Hardcover(2) hs(1) humor(1) juvenile fiction(1) kennedy(1) lis 5565(1) literature(1) LT-inspired(1) ocean(1) owned(1) personally signed by author and illustrator(1) picture book(2) poems(3) Poems & Drama(1) poetry(46) r60(1) rc1(1) rc2(1) rc3(1) Read(1) seasons(1) Seasons Poems(1) self identity(1) Self poems(1) Short Stories(1) Signed(1) Summer's Reading(1) tatiana(1) w(1) watercolor(1) Week 14-YA(1) wishlist(1)

Tag Source: LibraryThing
http://www.librarything.com/work/224309/book/32181789

The tags above refer to this book:

Kennedy,Caroline; illus. by Jon J. Muth. A Family
of poems: My favorite poems for children. New York:
Hyperion/Hyperion Books for Children, 2005.
ISBN: 978-0786851119

Synopsis

“Caroline Kennedy has chosen a rich variety of Kennedy
family favorite poems to include in this priceless collection.
With thoughtful personal introductions written by Caroline
herself, and beautiful new original artwork by award-winning
artist, Jon J Muth, this collection is sure to become a family
favorite for years to come.”—retrieved from Barnes &
Noble.com, June 18, 2008.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?ISBSRC=Y&ISBN=9780786851119

I chose this book to add to my blog because it includes a
variety of poems that have appeal for children and adults.
It would be a good choice to add to a library collection.

Competency #3--RSS Feed

I chose to add the RSS feed from Poetry 180: a Poem a Day
for American High Schools, a page on the Library of Congress
website (http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/). 180 poems (one for
each day of the school year) have been selected by Billy Collins,
former Poet Laureate of the United States. The site features
suggestions on how to use Poetry 180 and on how to read a poem
as well as a note about the benefits of reading poetry.

I located this RSS feed by using the Yahoo directory. I selected
the tabs Humanities>Literature>Poetry>Poem of the Day>
Poetry 180: A Poem a Day.

Competency #2--Related Podcast

http://www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom/summer/podcastsvideos/CAB/002_playful-poetry.asp

Using the Yahoo Podcasts search engine, I found a podcast
entitled ReadWriteThink: Chatting About Books. Episode 2
(published May 2, 2008) is called "Playful Poetry Books to Share."
http://media.readwritethink.org/audio/ChattingAboutBooks/CAB-002.mp3

The podcast has 3 sections. In the first section, the host, Emily
Manning, talks about 3 poetry books for children and suggests
ways to use the books. In the second section, Ms. Manning
talks to a family about the three poetry books in the first section.
In the last section, she interviews Dr. Sylvia Vardell. Ms.
Manning and Dr. Vardell talk about how to read a poetry book
and how to choose poetry books for children of different
ages. The entire podcast is entertaining and informational.

I chose to link this podcast to my blog because it directly
deals with my topic of poetry for children and young adults.
Several poetry books are discussed and ways to encourage
the reading of poetry are mentioned. The ReadWriteThink
website also features literacy activities for children
and young adults in kindergarten through high school. There
are links to other sites and podcasts as well.

Competency #1--Related Blog

One of the most useful and interesting blogs about poetry that I have seen is written by TWU professor Dr. Sylvia Vardell. The title of her blog is Poetry for Children: About Finding and Sharing Poetry with Young People. I located Dr. Vardell's blog using Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/ ). The URL for Poetry for Children is http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/. The purpose of the blog is to review poetry books and to promote the reading of poetry, especially to and by children. Dr. Vardell ties poetry in with special days like Earth Day, National Siblings Day and Limerick Day.

I chose this blog for several reasons:

1. Dr. Vardell is a well-known and well-respected author and professor in the field of poetry for children. 2. Information presented on her blog is likely to be accurate and reliable. 3. Her posts feature reviews of poetry books as well as links to other sites about poetry. 4. She includes poems or parts of poems in most of her posts. 5. The blog would be a good tool for a librarian looking for books to add to a school's poetry collection. 6. Dr. Vardell presents ideas for using poetry to further education. 7. The blog is just fun to read.

Here is one example of how Dr. Vardell links poetry to core subject areas.

"One Sample Curricular Area: Physical Science

As we introduce children to physical science and the concepts of motion, matter, energy, atoms, light, heat, electricity, and magnetism, poetry can help pave the way. The rhyming shape poems of Flicker Flash by Joan Bransfield Graham explore the different ways that light appears in our world, from the flicker of birthday candles to a flash of lightning. Read them aloud by flashlight for added effect. A natural complement is Anna Grossnickle Hines poetry book, Winter Lights (Greenwillow 2005) or Marilyn Singer’s Central Heating: Poems About Fire and Warmth (Knopf 2005).Three of Jane Yolen’s poetry collections look at water in its varying forms: Once upon Ice and Other Frozen Poems (Boyds Mills Press 1997), Snow, Snow: Winter Poems for Children (Boyds Mills Press 1998) and Water Music: Poems for Children (Boyds Mills 1995), all illustrated with stunning photographs. For more “wet” poetry, consult Joan Bransfield Graham’s Splish Splash (Houghton Mifflin 2001), Constance Levy’s Splash!: Poems of Our Watery World (Orchard 2002), and Ralph Fletcher’s Water Planet: Poems about Water (Arrowhead, 1991). Many of these water poems lend themselves to reading aloud along with props such as soap bubbles, Christmas tree “icicles,” or audiotapes of waterfalls or the ocean surf." (Thursday, March 20, 2008 post--used with Dr. Vardell's permission)

Purpose of this Blog

This blog is created in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
LS 5013, an online graduate-level class offered by Texas Woman's
University. The focus of this blog will be to encourage the inclusion
of poetry for children and young adults in school libraries.